343002 week 3

English 343-001January, 30 2012

Agenda

Discussion Topics

Reminders/announcements

Short Video on how to use immigration stories in class.

Going over last week’s concepts.

Identity: Holliday et. al.& Pavlenkov: Being represented, Multi-facedness, artifacts of culture, think description (emic vs etic perspective), identity narratives, autobiographies.

Group work: Analyzing Identity Narratives

Kumaravadivelu Chapter 2

Becoming American: The Chinese Experience. Documentary by Bill Moyers

Reminders/Announcements

Change in DUE date of the first assignment, Language and culture trajectory: New deadline: February 14.

Add B 1.5 to the Holliday et. al. reading

Grad student meeting at 8:10 about book review project

See me after class if you are still experiencing problems with blogs.

Please post your entries by 4:00 pm LATEST.

Immigration Stories as Classroom Research

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33OINi3xVbc&feature=related

Overview of concepts from last week

Important terms and concepts HOLLIDAY ET AL.:

Ethnic reductionism (Baumann)

Cultural essentialism

Nonessentialism

Liberal multiculturalism (Holliday, Kubota)

Small cultures and large cultures

KUMARAVADIVELU, 2006 CHPATER 2

Habitus

Cultural capital

Otherization/cultural otherization

The principle of linguistic relativity

Whorfian hypothesis (strong vs weak version)

Habitus and cultural capital(Pierre Bourdieu)

Critical Pedagogy in TESOL relies heavily on a wide range of theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Michael Bakhtin, M. Foucault, Paula Freire.

Piere Bourdue, a sociologist of education asks: Who gets education? How does education reproduce the inequalities of society? (especially in the case of minority students) “English could serve a gatekeeping function, and standardized tests drive the curriculum”

These notions helps us analyze the inequality in language education!

Habitus: How we act and think in the world.

Acquired dispositions through extensive involvement in the practice of everyday life.

Think: Which are the events that influenced every American in the same way?

Cultural Capital: Ways of speaking and literacy practices. Non-financial assets such as knowledge. Individuals accumulate cultural capital through education and socialization

Examples: Access to English is recognized as having value. One with financial capital can pay for English classes. One’s knowledge of English supplies cultural and social capital. gaining a cultural capital. “The dispositions that constitutes habitus are inculcated, structured, generative, and transposable. Given that the cultural capital values upper-class dispositions, is it possible for education to transform those relations of domination?

Otherization and Orientalizm

Otherization

Reductive process that ascribe an imagined superior identity to the Self and an imagined inferior identity to the Other. “Colonizers systematically devalue the colonized and how develuation expends to every aspect of life. See Memi’s The Colonizer and the colonized.

Orientalism (coined by Edward Said)

Western representation of the Other (i.e. East). “Orientalism is a systematically constructed discourse by which the West “ was able to manage—and produce—the Orient politically, sociologically, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively” (Said, 1978). Eg. Accents of Arabs in Aladdin. Aladdin is also Arab bur speaks English in Standard English.

Produces an essentialist and static Other.

Cultures, just like people, are not islands by themselves. They are all interconnected, making every culture, in effect, a hybrid culture.

The connection between language and culture (Kumar p. 21-23)

Linguistic relativity. Sapir-Wholf Hypothesis

“No two languages are sufficiently similar to represent the same social reality” (Sapir, 1949 p. 162).

The Apache equivalent of “He invited people to a feast is “He or somebody goes for eaters of cooked food”--Apaches speak differently because they think differently.

According to this view, the grammar structure of a language determines one’s view of world- Considered TOO STRONG (with racial overtones).

Weaker version: Language influences thought.

The use of you (see page 21)

Pavlenkov & Holliday et al

Identity, Narrative inquiry

Your voices on Identity narratives,

representation and immigrant stories

Jean says….

Pavlenko's article shows many excerpts of the stories told by immigrants who came from the southern and eastern part of Europe. Their stories and experiences show a lot of what they went through in order to "Americanize" themselves into the culture that had just begun to live in. It makes me sad to read that many of these immigrants "shed" their own culture to pursue the American one. It's as if they thought that stripping themselves of their own culture would make it easier to obtain the American Dream that so many came to have. Reading this article, I initially thought to myself "Immigrants don't really do this anymore." However, thinking about that thought, I corrected myself and began to think about the people I know who are immigrants and what they did to Americanize themselves. My parents have a few friends that moved to America not too long ago, and they are doing their very best to be as American as possible. Now I'm wondering "What does it really mean to be American? Because there really is no specific guideline to being American. America is made of a myriad of cultures." The family is from South Korea and have done almost anything and everything to become "American." I asked their six year old son, "What does it mean to be American?" He answered with words like "English," "hamburgers and hotdogs," "having Caucasian friends," and things of that nature. But are these really the qualities that make us American? It concerns me that people are willing to drop their own culture at the drop of a hat to become English speaking American. It does sound drastic (and it is), but there really are people who do believe in this notion.

Would you be willing to share your personal narrative?

Ryann says…

The paper (Pavlenkov’s article) focused on the narrative identities constructed in first-generation American immigrant autobiographies. We often forget to look at autobiographies which are really powerful sources that provide real-life perspectives from someone’s personal journey. As a learner, hearing other’s experiences helps me make connections and relate to the material…. The many stories that were in this article were chronicles of the first immigrants to undergo the process of Americanization. Their stories were originally needed to provide hope for other immigrants, help educate mainstream citizens and continue the process of Americanization in the U.S. As I read this article I asked myself, why does undergoing Americanization require individuals to give up their own personal culture and heritage? Why can someone not belong to more than one culture? I am a student and a daughter. I am also a big sister, a friend and a tutor. I can’t belong to only one cultural identity. Why can’t immigrants keep their culture while assimilating to the American culture?

Ashley Lenz says…

Even before reading the material for this week, I had an experience that led me to relate to a lot of what this week’s chapters convey. Whether it be from speaking Spanish, living abroad in Spain, or having a Mexican boyfriend, I have always felt more at home with people who are part of a Latino culture. I feel that in my heart, I identify myself as somewhat of a Latina; however, my exterior ethnicity makes it hard for others to see me as such…. Reading about Roberto from Peru, who would’ve done anything to become more “gringo,” I realize that looking at the situation from a distance, it seems sad that someone would want to give up their culture and change everything about who they are and where they come from for anything else. Maybe because I come from that “gringo”, American culture and do not feel as a strong member, so I find it hard to find what could be so special that you would want to become a part of it. However I see that all over the world there are people who wish to change their identities to become someone else and that I am not the only one that feels trapped in between where I come from and where I wish to be.

Would you be willing to share your narrative?

Moon says…

When I read this passage from Pavkelkov, this described how I felt. I recently became a citizen of United States. I lived in U.S. for ten years. I spend my youth years in United States and I will in the future. I am Korean and I lived there for a long time. Many of my Korean friends think that I am too Americanized. Many of my non-Korean friends think that I am very Korean. I used to be very confused with my own identity. I felt like I got rejected by both of cultures that I live with. My English proficiency isn’t perfect as Americans but neither is my Korean. I was always questioning which cultures that I need to accept in order to get accepted in both societies. Then, I realized that I didn’t get rejected by both cultures, I am accepting both cultures which make me who I am. I understand the perspective of both cultures because I accept them. I don’t necessary agree with some of Korean norms or American norms. I just know and understand both cultures.

Moon continues..

I agree that many immigrants’ especially Asian immigrants believe that they need to give up their native culture to become ‘American.’ Therefore, they give up using their native language. I had this argument with my friend on Sunday. She told me that many other immigrants or second generation kids understand their native language and speak perfectly. However, many Korean immigrants or second generation kids cannot speak Korean very well. She blamed that it is Korean parents which is 1st generation think that it is not necessary to teach Korean since they live in America. I believe that it is very hard for immigrants to accept some cultural norms that is opposite of their culture. Therefore, they are likely to give up their culture since they are living in America. I see many of my Korean friends. They are Americanized, or Koreanized. In Korean society, we have a name for it: Fob and Twinkie. Fob means “fresh off the boat” which is for immigrants who accept only their native culture. Twinkie is for usually second generation, which for people who reject their native culture and accept American culture. Usually, fobs and twinkies don’t like each other. Fobs don’t understand that twinkies are so Americanized when they are Korean. Twinkies don’t understand that why fobs keep their cultural norms so much when they live in the U.S.

Alice says…

As I read this article (Pavlenkov’s), I was struck by the power of language to define and “otherize” speakers of different languages, as well as influence them. Language, a powerful cultural carrier, shaped the personal and national identities of immigrants. In the case of American English, English transformed from a language of national unity used to help immigrants assimilate to American life to a language that now entails that new English speakers in the U.S. must lose significant parts of their identities associated with their native languages and cultures. In other words, English in contemporary America implies that the idea of monolingualism is part of America’s national identity.

Alice continues…

English was not only practical for conducting daily life in America, but it also became a status symbol, similar to the immigrant narratives described in Pavlenko’s article. However, I can’t help but think that a significant part of a person’s heritage is lost with the rejection of his or her native language. Language is a link to previous generations and can form an important part of someone’s personal or community identity. This history leads me to question how we teach English in an American-based ESL context today. What are some practical ways that we, as educators, can teach our students to utilize the power of English without rejecting their other cultural and linguistic heritages?

Sarah Johnson says…

Pavlenko concluded that earlier immigrants had an easier time learning English for several reasons: many were already multi-lingual, so learning a new language was a familiar process; the types of jobs acquired by these immigrant often required limited English-speaking skills, so they assumed proficiency while really having a basic understanding of the language; laws at the time required the learning of English, so by learning English, they were only doing what was expected of them and what all of their compatriots were doing or had already done. Modern day immigrants have a more difficult time gaining English proficiency because the expectations for "proficiency" are higher, there is a general feeling of nationalism that leads many immigrants to resist formerly common forms of assimilation, and they feel that learning the new language will mean abandoning their own. It is this last assumption that I do not quite agree with, although I know this conclusion is based on what seems to be quite extensive research. I'm not sure I agree because the school at which I teach, while maintaining a generally homogeneous population, did experience for a few years a sporadic influx of Hispanic migrant workers. The experiences I've had with these families reflect more what Pavlenko described of the turn-of-the-century immigrants than the modern ones, particularly with regard to their lack of abandonment of their native language. These families almost uniformly had learned a basic level of English, as their jobs required, yet they maintained a use of both languages when speaking with friends and families. These families did not seem reluctant in the least to learn (more) English, but they also kept a strong hold on their first language.

Aurlie wonders…

In history we are taught that American is the melting pot but now I wonder if that is really true? If we all melt and become one, why is there still discrimination? The other question is, should we all melt? Why can we just co-exist and try to learn from one another instead of wanting to change one another.

Tomas wonders…

Why did all of the literature avoid the concept of how a name comes to shape your identity?

What do we do in the EFL/ESL classroom w/r/t names of students? Should we give them English names?

In what ways can we become more aware of our essentialist bias through which we view the world?

Identity and language

Languages are not only markers of identity but also sites of resistance, empowerment, solidarity, or discrimination.

Giddens says our identities are reflexively organized information about possible ways of life (how to act and how to be). What a person is understood to be varies across cultures—do you agree with this?

One’s identity is not set and stone; it is not only in the behavior or people’s reactions, but it’s in the narrative you tell about yourself. It integrates events which occur in your world—It’s an ongoing story about self.

Do you see your identity as a matter of keeping “a particular narrative going” or would you use another metaphor? What metaphor would you use to describe your identity. Explain your metaphor.

Discussion questions on identity

How is identity of one individual created?

To what extend is any one individual’s identity a matter of personality and to what extent do influences from the socio-cultural context impact?

If identities do change, what factors are responsible for such change?

What’s the relationship between language and identity?

Holliday A.1.1 Deep seated essentialism: Discussion on Parisa

Summarize Parisa’s example.

What did you make out of the comments that Parisa received from her colleagues? What are some of the essentialist attributes behind Parisa’s colleagues’ behaviors? Give instances from the excerpt where Parisa was “othered” or “misrepresented” (be specific)

How do you think Parisa’s colleagues would act if they were holding a non-essentialist view of culture? (see pg. 11)

Discussion: Think of a situation you have been in which is like the Perisa example and describe it in similar detail.

Important terms Multi-facetedness of people

Thick-description (Clifford Geertz): Seeing and explaining the complexity of a social event by looking at it from different layers (see the figure on pg 9). A thick description of a human behavior or a social event explains not just the behavior, but its context so that the behavior becomes meaningful to an outsider (see emic vs etic levels of cultural analysis on page 241—dangers of contrasting selves)

Emic vs etic level of cultural analysis (pg. 241). Different cultural groups operate in different norms that only make sense within the groups, not between the groups. Emic perspective comes from a persin witin the culture (or who offers thic description on that culture). Etic description comes from an observer.

Keniith Pike (1954) suggests that “there are two perspectives that can be employed in the study of a society’s cultural system, just as there are two perspectives that can be used in the study of a language’s sound system. In both cases, it is possible to take the point of view of either the insider or the outsider.” (phonemic and phonetic)

A.1.2: Chinese teaches

What was going on in the Chinese teachers example on page 12? How is Chinese society represented by Zhang and Ming?

Cultural identity and deconstruction of self

What people say about their own cultural identity should be read as the image they wish to project at a particular time rather than as an evidence of an essentialist national culture (p. 13)

Have you experienced a situation similar to the Chinese teachers? What are some of the differing ideologies we hold as teachers about our own pedagogical practices in the U.S.? Is there a unified way of explaining our experience? What are the cultural resources you draw as you form your ideologies about teaching ESL/EFL or any other subject?

We are linked through a common experience, we have our icons, our ideologies and our communal history to draw on, and we encapsulate all of this in our discourses. Because all of us inhabit different cultural groups, we are in fact all unique in our cultural identities (p. 19)

Who is Aneta Pavlenko?

Professor of TESOL at Temple University, NY.

Winner of the 2009 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research and of the British Association

Research Interests: Multilingualism, bilingualism, immigrant narratives, language and identity.

Check out her website!

Pavlenko’s study

Analysis of 11 narrative of immigrant memoirs and autobiographies published between the years of 1901 and 1935.

Methodology: A sociohistoric approach to study personal narratives” which sees autobiography as a literary and sociological form that creates particular images of subjects in particular historical moments” (genre that is shaped by the local contexts)

Research questions: which identities are negotiated? What is the role of language? Does the portray of second language learning in 20th century differs from those in immigrant autobiographies?

The analysis of earlier narratives

Inequality between immigrants.

Some felt the need to establish and argue for their Americanness.

English was seen as the key of assimilation, but the omission of “language” in the earlier narratives is intriguing. (see the examples)

Stories of “happy linguistic assimilation”: Second language learning as a successful and easy process. No mention of linguistic discrimination.

The analysis of later narratives

Linguistic hybridity

Recognition of ethnicity, race and gender.

Linguistic identities are negotiated in different ways according to the narrators sociohistorical realities.

National identity became strongly bound to monolingalism in English.

Present immigrants find themselves in a situation where learning English means giving up the first language.

Accounts of painful experiences

Identity narrative analysis

In your groups read the narratives from three different groups. What are some of the emerging themes do you see in these narratives? How do they negotiate their identities? How is second language and culture learning represented?

1. Narrative excerpts from “The inner world of the immigrant child”

2. Narrative excerpts from Eva Hoffman, Fen Shen, H.Kim

Group Work: Narrative analysisAnalyzing language choices and content of the immigrant narratives:

What identities are narrated in this excerpt? Which events in their learning trajectory have become particularly significant and which have likely been omitted as a result of this choice?

What are some of the emerging themes you see in these narratives? How do they negotiate their identities? How is second language and culture learning represented?

Examine the audience the narrator chose to address.

What are the implications of this linguistic choice for their narrative? Were the stories elicited in two languages or just one? Is it possible that proficiency or attrition have influenced the manner of the presentation or the amount of detail offered by the narrator? (Pavkenkov, 2009)

REPORT YOUR FINDINGS TO THE WHOLE CLASS

Assignments

Next week: Readings, writing a learning log

Happy reading! Happy blogging!